On Friday, April 15th the Sebago Lakes Region Chamber of Commerce
conducted a ribbon cutting at CenterStage
for the Performing Arts in Raymond.

The dance and fitness studio has grown
exponentially in recent months to over 250 dancers. Several SLRCC Directors,
Raymond Town Manager Don Willard and several current students were on hand to
congratulate owner Beth Gaudet
on her growth and success.

TheeventwasfreeandtookplaceattheMSSPAfarmat279RiverRoadinWindham. Hundreds attendedtheeventandare
responsible for helpingtoraise $25,127indonationstosupport
MSSPA horses.InhonoroftheASPCA’s150thanniversarycelebrationthisyear,thecontesthasbeenexpanded to include a total of $100,000 in
grantprizes,including a grandprizeof $25,000.

Tuesday night after much discussion, the vote to sell
Windham Youth Soccer Association (WYSA) land recently purchased by the Town of
Windham from the Portland Water District was postponed for a month so that all
interested parties can discuss the future use of the land. Representatives from
WYSA were in attendance, but other organizations were not.

“We put more time into selling a condemned building on
Main Street than we have for this,” said one town counselor. Another called the
quick sale short-sighted on the part of the town.

“We know there is a problem with field space,” said
chairwoman Donna Chapman. It was also pointed out that if a new middle school
is built on the site of the existing one, that more fields will be inaccessible
causing more need in other locations.

WYSA has been preparing for the purchase of the land for
five years, they said. Although they have been using and maintaining the fields
for almost 30 years, they have never owned the property.

If WYSA no longer continues the maintenance of the
property, then the town will have to pick up the tab, which could be close to
$100,000, according to Dan Hancock. “What’s your plan to pay for that if it’s
not WYSA?” he asked.

The council plans to meet with all interested parties
before the 30 days are up to come to some sort of use agreement.

At Tuesday night’s Windham Town Council meeting, the
contract to construct and renovate the buildings located at 33 Main Street for
the South Windham fire station was awarded to Hardypond Construction. The bid
was for $1,007,366.

The bid was over what was initially budgeted for the
project, but if the town makes changes to the scope of work, they hope to cut
costs.

The project was approved by voters last winter and will
hopefully be completed before the end of the year, according to town council
chairperson Donna Chapman.

One of the architects on the project explained that in
the last 18 months the cost of inflation for construction has gone up creating
the discrepancy between the budgeted amount and the bid amounts.

“The cost to
build is substantially more,” he said at the workshop meeting last week. “It’s
still a good deal versus building a new station.”

Last fall, Shelli Pride was awarded the 2015 Adult
Education Outstanding Teacher award at a symposium. The honor went almost
completely unknown, but Pride’s work at Windham-Raymond Adult Education speaks
for itself.

“I was totally blown away,” Pride said. “I was very
surprised and overwhelmed by the nomination and award!”

Pride has been an adult education teacher for 20 years.

“After receiving that award, not that I needed an award
to validate me, I found my passion 20 years ago, it gave me that validation
from my peers. They recognized the time and effort put into being a teacher,”
Pride said. Pride has been teaching vocational classes like accounting, Microsoft
office, computer science and QuickBooks for years.

For Pride, students in adult education are different from
those who are still in high school. “In the classes I’ve taught, students have
a desire to be there and want to be a part of the class.” She added that
quality teachers make the content relevant for the students. Many of them are
paying to be in the class and they want to get the most out of it. Some are
upgrading for their jobs and others are looking for a change. There’s more
engagement between the students and teachers in adult education, Pride said.

“Shelli comes to the adult education learning center every
day with a smile on her face and a genuine eagerness to support each of her
colleagues and students in any way she can. She is the epitome of a dedicated
teacher, a loyal, motivated and conscientious employee and an unselfish team
player. The success of a director is determined by the quality of people one
surrounds themselves with; I am very fortunate to have added Shelli to a stellar
group of adult educators in Windham/Raymond,” said director of adult education
Tom Nash.

Right now, Pride is the college transitions coordinator
and currently prepares students to be ready for their freshman year in college.

When asked what makes a good adult education teacher,
Pride answered, “Passion for their subject that comes across and the desire to
pass on their knowledge. You can tell the ones who have the true passion.”

Care
Boldly. Serve Strong. These two phrases illustrate the philosophy behind
PowerServe, a morning of service designed to bring communities together to make
a difference.

The
event goes beyond simply being about community service. The idea began as a way
to honor the life of Shane Donnelly. Donnelly was a 10th grader at
Windham High School when he tragically took his own life last year. PowerServe
is dedicated to the life of Shane Donnelly.

Genevieve
Delano, one of the two youth leaders for the event, said “We didn’t want to do
just a memorial or a bench or something, because it wasn’t his death we wanted
to celebrate. It was his life and how much he cared for other people and his
impact on the community that we wanted to celebrate.”

The
other student leader, Libby McBride, added “After his passing our community was
really shaken up. I think this is a great opportunity for us all to come
together and do some good in his name.”

Kristine
Delano, one of the overall event leads, said Shane’s passing had a big impact on
the school. From that arose the idea that people could be more intentional
about caring for each other and working together, because you may not know how
much people are suffering from the outside, she said.

PowerServe
allows many different people an opportunity to serve together. “There are teens and there is the community,
but it feels like there’s not a lot that brings everyone together to work
alongside each other,” said Kristine.

Young
Life Sebago is sponsoring the event, and inviting the communities of Gorham,
Raymond and Windham to come together at Windham High School on Saturday, May 14th,
to participate in a variety of hands-on service projects.

Young
Life Sebago is a Christian based outreach to teenagers that provides three
basic things to kids, according to area director Kati King.

First,
they provide positive adult role models to spend time with young people. They
provide fun and positive ways to spend time through weekly programs and a
summer camp. And finally, they provide the basics of the Christian faith in a
way that allows students of any background to hear about faith and then make
their own decisions about what to do with that information.

“We’re
really excited about the opportunity to engage students with the idea of giving
back and seeing something that’s bigger than themselves that they want to give
their time to,” King said.

Genevieve
said “It’s been really cool to see how fast this can grow, and how many people
are getting involved.”The planning team
has more than 40 people working to make the event a success.

McBride
said she is learning a lot from being a lead on a big project like this. “It’s
been a really great opportunity to give back to the community and to come
together,” she said.

The
goal is to have 200 people attend the event. As of their last planning meeting
on Tuesday, April 26, 152 people had registered. All ages and abilities are
welcome.

A
wide range of projects will take place, including a birdhouse assembly and
painting project designed specifically for children under 12. Other projects
will include planting and mulching, trash clean up, building projects and other
grounds work.

The
event begins on the Windham High School campus, with check-in at 8 a.m. Most
projects will be on campus, with a few off-site projects helping veterans and
others who need assistance with outdoor home projects.

Participants
are asked to select their areas of interest, and each project will have a team
leader to guide the work. Lunch will be served to celebrate the work efforts at
12:30 p.m.

The
gold sponsor for the event is Gorham Savings Bank. Benson Farm will donate
compost and soil to the project.Other
area businesses are also stepping up to help, with donations of products and
services, including Windham Hannaford and Corsetti’s.

The
committee is asking for pre-registration in
order to better organize tasks into teams. The first 200 registrants will
receive a free event T-shirt. Walk-ins will be accomodated as possible.

For
more information or to register for the event, visit the PowerServe Saturday
Facebook page or www.sebago.younglife.org.

Windham Youth Soccer representatives attended the Windham
Town Council workshop Tuesday
night to present an offer of $80,000 to purchase
the land the town recently acquired from the Portland Water District at Gambo
Fields.

For 38 years, WYSA has been running soccer programs at
the field and spending between $25,000 and $30,000 per year for maintenance and
upkeep of the property.

The councilors agreed that WYSA had put a lot of time and
money into the land, but were hesitant to hand the property over to them,
suggesting a five year lease with the option of first refusal should the town
want to sell it.

“It’s a gem for the town. I wouldn’t give it up. We don’t
own any fields,” said Dave Nadeau.

Donna Chapman broached the question of if the town can
maintain those fields on top of what they already have. “I don’t see us taking
care of it the way it should be,” she added.

“It’s a great facility. They put the money in and they
did the work,” one council member said.

WSYA representatives acknowledged the partnership with
the town for as long as they’re had it, but are also concerned about putting
more money into something they don’t own or have a say over. With 800 youths
serviced by the WYSA program, they are looking to expand and invest more in
infrastructure at the site.

“For use to keep maintaining it for five years at
$150,000 to $250,000 for something that could be taken away don’t make sense
for us,” said Dan Hancock.

Next week, the town council will put forth a proposal for
a vote. At the time of press, there was no word on what the exact proposal
would be.

WINDHAM - On Sunday April 10th, Riding To The
Top Therapeutic Riding Center recognized the work of its volunteers at their
annual volunteer appreciation event.

Nick Doria, volunteer coordinator at Riding To The Top,
welcomed the group and reported that “in 2015 135 RTT volunteers contributed a
record 11,495 hours of service in support of rider lessons, horse care, barn
chores, administration and events.” He noted “their collective contribution
is valued at over $234,127.”

Executive director Sarah Bronson thanked the group and
remarked that “RTT volunteers contribute time, talent and skills which
increases our capacity to serve greater numbers of children and adults with
disabilities.” Bronson went on to add that “Riding To The Top would have to
hire four or five full time staff to replace the work that volunteers
contributed last year”.

This year The President’s Volunteer Service Award, for
those volunteers contributing over 100 hours in 2015, was presented to 21
individuals including:

Special recognition of outstanding service to RTT
included: Mark Fuller (Volunteer of the Year); Nicole McFrland (Youth Volunteer
of the Year); Jodi Peasley (Administrative Volunteer of the Year); Barbara
Foster (Rookie of the Year Award); Hannah Jud (Volunteer Schooler Award)
and Clayton Peters (Barn Volunteer of the Year).

Linda Baker , Riding To The Top board member,
thanked the volunteers and also recognized Riding To The Top’s corporate
partners of the year: Norway Savings Bank, Paris Farmers Union and Windham
Automotive.

Town of Windham thanks volunteers

Last Wednesday night volunteers for the
Town of Windham gathered at the Deck House to celebrate the hard work they do
for the many departments and committees in town. Volunteers from the Windham
Food Pantry, public library, clothes closet, Human Services Advisory board,
parks and recreation, planning board and zoning board.

Marilyn Goodreau
Receives Governor’s Award for Service and Volunteerism

WINDHAM – Marilyn L. Goodreau, president of the non-profit
Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals in Windham, has been named an
Exemplary Honoree by Governor Paul LePage for her tireless efforts to eliminate
equine abuse and neglect.

Ms. Goodreau was honored, along with other award-winning
volunteers, in a State House ceremony hosted by First Lady Ann LePage on
Tuesday, April 12.

The mission of the Maine State Society for the Protection of
Animals is to provide refuge, rehabilitation, and placement of seized horses;
support the placement of surrendered animals; and educate the public. The
vision is to strive toward the elimination of equine abuse and neglect.

The society uses its resources to provide direct care to
horses who have suffered abuse. The MSSPA promotes humane treatment, training
and use of horses through education and hands-on experiences. It collaborates
with other animal serving agencies to maximize the resources of all.

One of Ms. Goodreau’s greatest contributions is a lifetime
of service; she epitomizes the concept of volunteerism in Maine. Working
without pay or vacation, she has logged more than 89,000 hours of volunteer
service with the MSSPA. A testament to the power and pleasure of volunteer
service, hers has been a labor of love for the animals and a very generous gift
to Maine taxpayers. In part, as a result of Marilyn’s dedication, the society
continues to provide Maine with more than a million dollars a year in donated
animal shelter services. Absent Marilyn’s devotion to the society, it is
unlikely that the organization would exist today.

Learn more about New England’s largest horse shelter by
visiting its River Road farm, which is open each day from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00
p.m.During June, July, and August the
farm is open until 6 p.m. No admission is charged and visitors are welcomed!

On April 24th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in conjunction
with the ASPCA, the society will be celebrating National Help A Horse Day by
hosting the second Annual Maine Horse Jubilee. “The ASPCA Help A Horse Day
contest and Maine Horse Jubilee are wonderful opportunities for the society to
welcome the residents and businesses of the local area into the barn to help
raise awareness about the horses in our community who are in need of loving
homes,” said Meris J. Bickford,
CEO of the MSSPA.

“Horses are majestic, social animals, and we hope
our local supporters will turn out on April 24th to help the society
win a $25,000 grant to continue its lifesaving efforts."

To celebrate the
day, the MSSPA will host the Second Annual Maine Horse Jubilee featuring an
array of fantastic activities, including a horse training demo by horse expert
Debbie Little, a presentation by New Equine Photography, discussions with
author and artist Vince Bruni, farrier demos, equine veterinarian exposition,
children’s activities, a visit from Baxter, the MSSPA mascot and much more! The
event is free and family friendly.